Canned Pears - Hot or Raw Pack?

Working our way through 80 pounds of pears is time consuming.  We decided to process one canner load (9 pints) of pear quarters in medium syrup.  Hot packing cut fruit is not my favorite of canning chores.  I would much rather make jam or sauce.  

It is the actual packing of the jar with the very hot very soft fruit that makes this process so tedious.  The fruit is so soft that it makes placing the piece just right in the jar difficult.  It seems each time I place a piece of fruit in the jar it turns the wrong way as soon as it slips off the spoon.  When I try to correct its placement, I just squish or break the fruit.  It is so much easier to place cold firm fruit pieces the correct way into the jar.  
But raw pack does not work with pears.  I know.  I have tried... more than once.  No success.  While the jars look prettier before going into the water bath, they are unacceptable coming out.  There is liquid loss and lots of sputtering out of syrup under the lid when removing from the water bath.  The jars do seal, but then I worry about the quality of the seal with the syrup layer now between the jar rim and lid.

At the end of the day when I am exhausted from the days chores I would appreciate a nice canning shortcut.  As much as I would love to be lazy and raw pack my fruit, it just is not worth it.  

I followed the instructions in the Ball Blue Book for canning pears.

How do you can your pears and other fruit?  Hot or raw?




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Canning Failure.... But Tasty End Product

Saltbush Flats has been flooded with fruit!

The last week in our former home we were processing hundreds of pounds of cherry plums.  Our first week in our new ranchlet we were canning 50 pounds of peaches.  Then we froze 150 lemons and limes.  We followed that with 80 pounds of pears and 45 pounds of Hatch chiles.  And these last few days we have been picking crabapples.  So far we have 270 pounds of crabapples to make into juice, and we have only begun the crabapple harvest.  

This is work.  This is fun.  We are loving every minute of it.  I thank Rancher Roy every day for working right there beside me to accomplish our goals.  Whether it is picking apples, washing fruit, or shoveling compost, we do all this together.  There is a certain satisfaction that comes from knowing that we are doing all we can to provide for ourselves and our family.

We made some Pineapple Pear Jam (well almost) last night.  We are still processing the pears and there is about 25 pounds remaining to be made into pear sauce tonight.  Outside work is done during the day.  Inside work, like canning, is done in the evening after dinner.  As many of you know ranch/farm work is never done.

We all have trusted brands we like to use when we are canning our produce.  I rely on the integrity of certain companies, like Ball and Sure-Jell, to provide an excellent product and results each and every time.  I had in my canning supply stash two boxes of pectin that needed to be used.  It was NOT the brand I usually use.  But not wanting to be wasteful, I decided to use those last two boxes of pectin in this jam recipe.

Pears all ready for jam

I prepared the pears and pineapple as usual.  Followed my recipe just like always.  

Jam in progress

Then failure struck... no jelling.  Jam is not jam unless it sets.  Never in all my experience using Sure-Jell have I ever had a set failure.  This other well known brand is a disappointment.  I originally purchased four boxes of that other brand pectin.  Not one box gave me satisfactory results.  Lesson learned.  Always use Sure-Jell. 

Beautiful Yummy Pints of Pineapple Pear Honey

 All is not lost.  What started out to be pineapple pear jam turn into Pineapple Pear Honey.  This is delicious and will be used on biscuits, stirred into yogurt, and blended into milkshakes.  The possibilities of this honey are endless.  

Sometimes failures result in a very pleasant end product.



Note:  This my personal opinion based on my personal experiences.  Your experiences may differ.



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Simply Pear Butter

Some recipes for fruit butters are so heavily laden with spices that the flavor of the fruit is lost.  This is especially true with a delicate flavor like pear.  We wanted a concentrated flavor of the pear, not of spices.  This pear butter recipe is simple and plain with minimal spice.

Pear Butter Ingredients

Three simple ingredients: Pear, sugar, and cinnamon.

About 10 pounds pears, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.  Wash, quarter, core, peel, and puree the pears.  

I Love My Slow Cooker

Combine pear puree, sugar, and cinnamon and cover and cook on low in slow cooker.

And Cook... After About 2 Hours

 Off set lid and continue to cook on low.

And Cook... After About 12 Hours

And Cook... After About 15 Hours, Stirred

And Cook... After About 18 Hours

As you can see, the sauce has cooked down to about 1/4 to 1/3 its original volume.
Fill prepared jars and process in water bath 10 minutes, following basic water bath procedures.

Makes about 8 half-pints.

Pretty As Can Be

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Bartlett Pear Jam

Bartlett Pear Jam

We have been blessed to acquire about 80 pounds of Bartlett pears at a very good price.  I have enjoyed canning this yummy pear jam, plus pear butter, and pear sauce.

Colt in the City brought me a lot of jars he found on craigslist along with the comment, "can I trade these empty jars for full ones?"

I enjoy canning and it is satisfying to know that I am making something that my family really wants to eat, and requests more.

Chunky Pear Sauce

Pear Jam

makes 7 half-pints

4 cups pear sauce

2 Tablespoons lime juice

1/2 teaspoon butter

1 box pectin

5 cups sugar

Prepare water bath, jars, and lids.

Wash, core, peel, and process pears in food processor to measure 4 cups chunky pear sauce.  Process until almost completely smooth, but leave little bits of pear remaining.

Measure sugar in separate bowl.  Set aside.

Combine pear sauce, lime juice, butter, and pectin in large sauce pot.  Bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly.

Stir in sugar all at once.  Return to full rolling boil and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and skim foam, if any.

Fill jars, wipe rims, apply lids.

Process in water bath 10 minutes (adjusting for altitude).

Here at Saltbush Flats with an altitude of 6200 feet an additional 15 minutes processing time is needed (10+15=25).

Place jars upright on towel to sit undisturbed overnight.  Next morning check seals, remove rings, and wash jars.  

Pear Jam

As you can see, there are only 6 jars of Pear Jam.  
          Colt in the City had to have a jar delivered to him immediately along with some Pear Sauce.


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Dehydrated Pears

We love pears.

Fresh, dried, canned, juice, jam, sauce, syrup, etc.  Yes, we love pears.

So out of our 40+ pounds of juicy Bartlett pears recently received, we decided to dehydrate a few to snack on like apple chips.

To prepare pears for drying, wash, core and peel.

An effective way to core a pear is to first cut in half.  Then use knife to cut v-shape under stem and blossom area.  Then use pointed spoon to scoop out core.  Everything should cleanly lift out in one piece.  The stringy parts of the pear are around the stem and core. The grainy parts are around the core and blossom.  By carefully removing these parts, most unwanted textures are discarded.

I core first, then peel.  I find it easier to handle the pear while coring with the skin still on.

Very much used mandolin.

Slice pear into 1/4 inch slices.  Let pear slices drop into bowl of Fruit Fresh solution to protect from browning.  Follow the directions on Fruit Fresh label.

Place pear slices on dehydrator trays.  Dry at 135 degrees until leathery.  Upon cooling pear slices should become very crisp.  If they do not break when bent, dry longer.

If you can resist munching them all immediately, vacuum seal in jars and store.

Bartlett Pear Sauce

Perfect Pear

Are not pears the most luscious fruit ever?

I have been blessed with over 40 pounds of these beauties.  While most are being eaten fresh, I am managing to preserve a few.

Ten pounds somehow found its way into silky smooth pear sauce.  Oh my, this is delicious.

Simply quarter, core, peel, and puree the pears.

Two cups pear quarters equal about 1 cup puree.

In each food processor batch add 1/2 teaspoon Fruit Fresh.  It is important that pear sauce remain very pale.  I did not want it turning brown before all of the pears were processed. Blend until very smooth.

I chose not to use sugar, but pineapple, to sweeten this pear sauce.  Put the pineapple through the food processor also until very smooth.

Stir pear puree, pineapple puree, and juice of 1 lime together in large pot.  Bring to boil.

Fill jars and wipe rims.

Process in water bath.

This pear sauce is not grainy at all.  All the pears were very ripe, juicy, and peeled easily.
Using very ripe pears give a smooth sauce.  Using firm pears will give you grainy sauce.
While peeling and coring, the juice dripped into my hands.  It was hard not to slurp up each drop of that delicious juice.

Beautiful!

Pear Sauce
make 8 pints

10 pounds pears
Fruit Fresh
1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple
1 lime

Prepare lids, jars, and water bath canner.

Wash, quarter, core, peel, and puree pears, using Fruit Fresh in food processor.  
Puree pineapple.  Juice lime, and strain.
Stir together in large pan.  Bring to boil, reduce heat, but keep hot.

Fill hot jars with hot sauce to within 1/2 inch of rim.
Wipe rim.  Apply lid and ring.  
Process in water bath for 20 minutes for pints and quarts. 
Make altitude adjustments if necessary.
Allow jars to cool and sit undisturbed overnight.
Prepare jars for storage by removing rings, checking seals, and washing outside of jars.


Saltbush Flats is over 6000 feet.  Everything preserved by water bath must have an additional 15 minutes processing time to ensure proper temperatures are reached.
This pear sauce was processed for 35 minutes (20 + 15 for altitude).

If you have any question about canning and altitude adjustments, refer to the Ball Blue Book for complete instructions.

*Follow up after sending a jar home with Colt in the City:
He sent this text "The pear sauce is amazing.  More please."


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